I grew up in a church culture. My parents took me to church but we weren’t a radical family by any standards. The extent of our Christian experience was on developing biblical values and morals. Like many people, even though I went to church and ‘Sunday School’ somewhere along the line I learned to believe that Jesus and God were two different people with two different roles. God, was the bearded old man with a cranky demeanour, impatiently putting up with people and flinging lightning bolts to zap anyone who stepped out of line. But Jesus was the nice guy who seemed to care about people.

I can’t remember ever being told anything like the above, but somehow, in child-like perceptions I developed that understanding between Jesus and God.

Possibly the most important step in my understanding of the relationship between Jesus and God I discovered in Hebrews 1:3 which says, “…Jesus is the exact representation of God.” Another   translation replaces the word exact with perfect. Jesus is the perfect representation of God.

…exact….perfect… these words indicate a precise completeness; a sameness; more than a mirror image or a carbon copy – but actually the same in essence and personhood.

Understood in this way, this means that when I look at the person of Jesus I’m actually seeing an exact representation of the person of God. Jesus’ life gives me an insight and perspective on the very character and nature of God. So, the recurring image I have in my head of God as a Zeus-like old man with a lightning rod ready to zap people for doing something wrong – where did that come from? I certainly don’t see that represented in the life of Jesus. In fact, I see the opposite.

Jesus had time for people – all people, and he seemed to be genuinely liked by the crowds. The non-religious wanted to hang out with him. In fact, he was accused of spending too much time with those deemed less-than-suitable but Jesus ignored those religious rules & traditions. He demonstrated compassion and he healed the sick and oppressed. He lived a humble life modelling what he taught and invited people to follow him in his Kingdom lifestyle.

The representation of God exemplified in the life of Jesus is not the characterisation of God I grew up with. When it becomes clear that my thoughts about God are different to what the Bible reveals, I have a choice to make: do I continue on with this incorrect assumption about the nature and character of God or do I study what the Scriptures teach about God in order to change my understanding of who God is?